35-year-old Vincent Gordon of Alton was taken into custody early Wednesday after law enforcement from various departments utilized loudspeakers and flashbangs — small non-lethal explosives that cause temporary disorientation and loss of sight — while at Gordon’s residence on the 900 block of Easton.

Gordon has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, a Class M felony, according to Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons. Gibbons noted that there are two counts each due to the alternate theories leading up to conviction related to the charges.

Gordon has formally been accused of shooting 28-year-old Derrick J. Vaughn and 30-year-old Elijah Ingram, both of Alton, while at a residence located on the 3100 block of Lawn Street in Alton Acres, shooting Vaughn in the head and Ingram multiple times with a 9mm pistol. Gibbons’ office is asking for a mandatory life sentence in relation to the charges.

Several dozen investigators in a joint investigation done by the Alton Police Department and the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis (STLMCS) were present at a press conference Wednesday afternoon to announce Gordon’s arrest, including Gibbons, Alton Police Department chief Jake Simmons and Kristopher Tharp, deputy commander of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis and deputy with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department. All three spoke regarding the case and expressed thoughts and prayers to the victims.

Gordon is also being charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon (a Class 2 felony) and escape (a Class 3 felony) after knowingly violating the conditions of release from the Illinois Department of Corrections by allegedly removing an electronic tracking device required to be on his person.

Simmons noted that Gordon’s arrest was a direct result of times from family and friends of the victims, who left behind children and people who loved them, describing their lives being cut so short as a “tragedy”, but felt pride in his police department as well as STLMCS for such a timely conclusion to this incident.

Gordon attained parole from prison earlier this year following a conviction on several violent charges stemming from a June 2015 incident, wounding as many as six people inside the C&M Lounge in Brooklyn. He was sentenced for six years.

Additionally, Gordon has several previous charges in the bi-state region, including two charges of reckless homicide and two charges of aggravated DUI resulting in a death stemming from a 2004 incident in Madison County and three counts of robbery, first degree robbery, three counts kidnapping and three counts armed criminal action in Missouri.

Sources close to the Gordon investigation cite that the motive for killing Vaughn or Ingram was not random, additionally adding that it does not have anything to do with previous history with both individuals.

Jake Leonard is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. He is general manager of Heartland Internet Media Networks and an active contributor to four newspapers for Pana News Group. He also serves as chairman of Tri-Counties Libertarian Party and Capital Area Libertarian Party, deputy candidate recruitment director for the Libertarian Party of Illinois and as chairman/co-founder of the Libertarian Party Millennial Caucus.